The present invention relates to improved baked goods and to methods for producing same. More particularly, the invention relates to improved shelf-stable baked or fried bakery products and the doughs used in making these products. Baked or fried bakery goods which incorporate the teachings of this invention have been found to have improved texture, mouthfeel, softness, moistness, moisture retention among other highly desirable properties. The products of this invention further relate to a shelf-stable, refrigerated or freezer baked product which when reheated in a microwave oven will retain its palatability.
Problems have arisen with the use of microwave energy for heating traditional yeast-raised food products such as bread and roll products. Traditional bread and roll products become impalatable after short exposures to microwave energy. The term palatable or palatability refers to the eating quality of food products. Palatable food products are agreeable to the taste and possess an appetizing appearance and texture.
Upon exposure to microwave energy, the crust of traditional bread and roll products becomes extremely tough and/or soggy as water present within the baked good migrates to the surface crust but does not evaporate off. The crust of such microwave exposed products may become so tough that it is difficult to tear such products. The bread product itself may become soggy or develop hard lumpy portions. The crumb of the products becomes rubbery and gummy and is difficult to chew. Consequently, traditional bread and roll products, upon exposure to microwave energy, are not palatable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,937 entitled "A Composition of Flours Containing Vital Gluten and Soluble Oat Dietary Fiber and a Baker Product Produced Therefrom" describes extensively the various methods of delaying staling and increase the keeping time of (shelf life) bread among other baked products. These approaches are classified into four categories: (1) dilution of the gluten and the weakening of crumb structure using materials such as banana pulp, amylopectin, dextrins and the like; (2) humectants to avoid dryness of the crumb using hydrocolloidal vegetable gums; (3) crumb softeners such as chemical emulsifiers and surfactants such as mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, esters of diacetyl tartaric acid, calcium stearyl-2-lactylate and the like have been shown to increase initial bread softness; and (4) enzymes to remove amylose. None of these procedures were found to be effective in the commercialization of baked goods to significantly decrease the staling effect of bread or other related baked products. Procedures as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,750 issued Sep. 18, 1990, were used to produce improved microwavable baked goods by adding protein modifiers and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,180 issued Dec. 5, 1989, incorporated a chemically modified starch derived from potato, corn, wheat, rice and combinations thereof to retain the palatability of the baked goods on microwaving.
Although the known protein modified baked goods and the chemically modified starch baked goods are satisfactory products after microwaving, this invention provides a simple and unique method to produce improved baked goods having outstanding baked goods' properties. An important ingredient of this present invention is described in copending patent applications, commonly assigned as the present application, U.S. Ser. No. 704,500, filed May 23, 1992, and U.S. Ser. No. 811,192, filed Dec. 21, 1991. A finely divided special type of calcium citrate is described as an anticaking agent for dry fructose-containing beverages in the first mentioned patent application and this special type of calcium citrate is also described in the second mentioned patent application as useful for opacifying and whitening aqueous food compositions. It has been discovered that this special calcium citrate added to flour-containing baking ingredients provides baking goods which are significantly improved.